Madame Saqui (1786-1866) was a celebrated tightrope performer who brought her ‘rope dance’ to dazzle audiences at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in 1816.
Originally born in Southern France to a family of professional acrobats, Madame Saqui grew up performing at provincial fairs with her parents.
In 1806, she began working at the fashionable Tivoli Gardens, known as ‘The Paris Vauxhall’. Famed, she was invited to Vauxhall once hostilities with France had ceased, performing each night of the season until 1820. Whilst she never returned to Vauxhall, Madame Saqui came out of retirement in 1861 to perform at the Paris Hippodrome, aged 75. She died a month before her 80th birthday, buried in Paris alongside her husband.
Imagine the burst of fireworks and bustle of the audience as you watch Madame Saqui perform above you in mesmerising AR.